When people ask what I do for a living, in order to cut to the chase, I often say I’m an “investment researcher.”

My job here – bringing you the best world’s best opportunities in technology, cryptocurrencies, and legal marijuana – means I spend most of my time doing research.

For tech and cannabis, that’s a lot of work – but it’s fairly straightforward.

For cryptos, well, it’s a lot more complex.

Much of the action takes place not in the mainstream media and industry publications, but in off-the-beaten-track places like Medium, Reddit, and Twitter.

Moreover, East Asia is the global hub for cryptocurrencies. Japan is on the top of the list for per-capita crypto ownership. And while South Korea may be home to less than 1% of the world’s population, it’s responsible for 30% of all global cryptocurrency trading. (To find out how to get all my cryptocurrency research, click here.)

I don’t read or speak any Asian languages. But here at Money Map Press – the publishing company behind Strategic Tech Investor – I’ve got the help I need to make this possible.

So today let’s “pull the curtain back” and give those resources a little exposure.

And then I’ll show how our teamwork revealed what will be one of 2018’s biggest, most exciting tech initial public offerings.

This massive Bitcoin mining IPO could become one of the year’s best profit opportunities.

So I’m champing at the bit to tell you this story.

Let’s get started…

A Little Help From My Team

While tracking crypto news out of Asia early last week, one of my team members came across a Google-translated document from an unnamed source detailing a crypto mining hardware powerhouse’s finances – and initial public offering plans.

My team member passed that document on to me – and my interest was definitely piqued.

After all, nothing moves capital and interest into a sector faster or more strongly than a hot IPO.

The translation was awkward at best – and while I can depend on Google Translate to get me the gist of certain things, I can’t depend on it for accuracy.

So, I had my team track down the original document. Then another team member, fluent in Mandarin Chinese, was able to get me a full, accurate translation.

Those are the kinds of resources we’ve got at Money Map and STI – and that you’ve got as a member.

Now let me show you what we dug up…

The World’s Biggest Bitcoin Miner

Before I get into the new details we unearthed about Bitmain Technologies Ltd., first a little background on this crypto mining juggernaut.

Started in 2013, Bitmain has grown into one of the go-to sources of the application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and rigs. Those are the microchips and computing systems crypto miners use to “solve” cryptographic puzzles and obtain e-currencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). It’s got an estimated 80% of the market for Bitcoin mining hardware.

Beyond the crypto world, Bitmain is moving to create its own artificial intelligence chip. Jihan Wu, the company’s cofounder and CEO, says AI chips could account for 40% of its revenue within five years.

The firm also runs some of the world’s largest mining pools – groups of miners who pool their processing capacity and split the rewards. According to Bitcoin data site Coin Dance, Bitmain’s AntPool and BTC.com mining pools now control more than 33% of Bitcoin’s mining power.

Bitmain has more than 2,000 employees in China, Canada, Israel, the Netherlands and Switzerland. And here in the United States, the company recently opened up a 20,000-square-foot facility in San Jose, Calif., and is planning on another new mining operation in Rockdale, Texas. That’s in addition to offices in Arizona and Washington.

That’s what we knew before we uncovered that badly translated document.

Here’s what we’ve learned since…

Hurtling Toward an IPO

First off, we now know that Bitmain has been on a bit of a fundraising spree – and why.

It just completed a new venture capital round led by Sequoia Capital, raking in between $300 million and $400 million. Its goal here, we learned, is to reach a $14 billion valuation before it goes public. Bitmain’s plans are to apply in September and list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange before the end of the year.

We even got a peek at Bitmain’s balance sheet – a rare treat for a privately held startup.

According to the source, Bitmain earned more than $1 billion in the first quarter of 2018. By comparison, chip legend Nvidia Corp. (Nasdaq: NVDA) – a competitor in the mining ASIC sector – reported a net income of $1.2 billion during the same time frame.

Bitmain’s first-quarter take alone approaches what it said it earned for all of 2017 – about $1.2 billion in profit and $2.5 billion in revenue.

While we needed our team member’s Mandarin to ferret out some of the particulars related to this highly anticipated IPO, it didn’t take much to figure out why this is such important news for crypto enthusiasts.

Here’s why…

Feeding the Beast

When it comes to investing in crypto technology, it’s been tough for everyday investors beyond investing in the coins themselves.

We’ve been itching to see the feds approve a cryptocurrency exchange traded fund (ETF). But the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has rejected every proposed crypto ETF to date, including proposals from the Winklevoss twins of Facebook fame.

The good news is there are still more ETF proposals in review at the SEC, and we believe one could be ready for prime time as soon as this month.

But it’s a larger market out there – a global one – full of investors hungry for more opportunities.

WinterGreen Research estimates the worldwide market for blockchain products was $706 million last year and could reach more than $60 billion by 2024. That’s 8,400% growth in less than a decade, and that’ll lead to the kinds of gains no one can ignore.

In a report published Aug. 1, Safwan Zaheer, digital and fintech lead with auditing firm KPMG, noted there’s more venture capital money available for blockchain projects than there are opportunities to invest – “a sign of tremendous growth in the space.”

Now, corporate behemoths like IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) have taken the lion’s share of the blockchain sector so far – these two firms alone have harvested 51% of the blockchain market to date, according to Treasury & Risk.

But small “pure plays” are popping up – the sort, though, that I can’t recommend in Strategic Tech Investor. They’re simply too illiquid and risky for folks just starting out.

But Bitmain’s upcoming IPO shows that things are changing. And fast.

Yes, it’s going to trade in Hong Kong – but it’ll likely be available as an ADR stock here soon after it goes public.

Moreover, if successful, it’ll prove that the market will support a big pure-play crypto stock. And you can bet some crypto/blockchain companies are already exploring listing on a major U.S. exchange soon after that.

Still, though, your best bet now remains the cryptocurrencies themselves – which Bitmain’s IPO will be yet another catalyst for.

That’s why I’ve put together an in-depth guide to investing in Bitcoin. You can find out how to get that by clicking here.

More than that, for those who get queasy when they see Bitcoin’s wild daily swings, I’ve got the story on why there’s a bigger picture out there.

A much bigger picture.

It’s one that involves Bitcoin heading to $100,000 thanks to a very specific catalyst.

You’ll want to check our presentation out now – before Bitcoin begins that big move up.

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